David Park and Khadija Hassine were deep in discussion during the Tuesday evening get together as part of the Library program "On the Same Page" facilitated by Margaret Ellis.
The immigrant experience in America was one of the themes in the book,
Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo.What did the recent immigrants have to say about their time here?- "here in Franklin, it is like a big family, everyone knows somebody"
- "my new 'mother' is downstairs"
- "life is too busy here, all work, work, work"
How did they pick Franklin?Most acknowledged that the reputation of the school system was the key reason. The location of the commuter rail and the safety of the area were two other prime reasons.
What were difficulties they found here?- "too many forms, they ask the same questions so many times"
- "making friends, they found neighbors very helpful but those who could be friends had not enough time"
What were differences they found here?- "so easy to drive here, back in my country it requires much more skill"
- "lives are so independent here, in my country life is more centered on the family"
- "time is so important here, everyone is so busy. I can hear: I have not seen him in two months. Back home, that is not possible."
The Franklin area immigrants represented a diverse collection of countries, from our northern neighbor Canada to Bulgaria, India, Morocco, Poland, and Vietnam.
